Giants' Damontre Moore looks to capitalize with Jason Pierre-Paul out

EAST RUTHERFORD — With Jason Piere-Paul set to miss his second straight game at the front of the Giants defense and head coach Tom Coughlin hoping to alternate a four-man rotation against the Chargers’ Philip Rivers on Sunday, it in time for Damontre Moore to prove why he was the Giants’ third-round pick in last April’s draft.

Coughlin hinted the other day it could be time the Giants use more of Moore as they try to get to 6-7 with their sixth win in seven games.

“I think if this young man wasn’t hurt in the preseason for the length of time he was that he might be more advanced than he is now,” Coughlin said, analyzing the effort Moore gave at FedEx Field last week when Moore was on the field for 11 snaps. One of them was a hit on Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Moore, a 6-foot-5, 250-pounder from Texas A&M who put together 26.5 sacks during three seasons as a starter in College Station, was hurt during the preseason after an impressive debut at the Steelers.

Used mostly on special teams punt coverage through 11 games, Moore has benefitted from Pierre-Paul’s limited playing time by getting more himself.

Until his hit on RGIII, the only stat Moore had this season was blocking a punt.

“I felt great,” said Moore, used very little on defense before Sunday. “It’s like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it. It was just one of those things, just getting back on the bike, and once I got back on it — it was a little wobbly at first.

“Then once you get riding you’re like, ‘Oh man, I never forgot how to do this.’”

“I understand how tough it is for him (Moore),” said teammate Justin Tuck, who earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording four sacks at Washington. “The thing I like about Damontre is he’s come in here every day trying to work and trying to overcome some of those things. It hasn’t happened for him yet, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t put in the effort. I think you’ll see a big jump from him going from the first year to the second year because he’ll have an entire offseason to work on it.”

Still, Moore would like to get more playing time in these final four games. Until last week, he was on the field for only 25 plays in 12 games. He looks to be a potentially strong pass rusher.

“Sure, he does,” Tuck added. “But we’re all selfish. We want to stand there and rush the passer, too. I think it’s tough for him to break in when you’ve got three established guys like we do.”

The preseason injury, then his inability to learn from the playbook, have not helped Moore’s progression.

“Right now he’s a very aggressive, solid part of special teams and we’re trying to work him in as best we can,” Coughlin said. “He is a necessary part of the rotation right now. Justin was on kickoff coverage and did a good job with that his rookie year, too.

“In Tuck’s early years he didn’t have gaudy numbers early on. Obviously Damontre is a different type of player than Justin, but you go back and look at how you develop these guys.”